Seasonal Fish Chart

Virginia Saltwater Species

To be an expert angler, you need to know when the fish are running and where to catch’em. Our Virginia saltwater species fish chart will help you to identify most of the fish caught in our local waters. Click a fish below to find out when they’re running, and learn some fun facts about each species.

The Spot or Norfolk spot is a small short-lived saltwater fish in the family Sciaenidae. The species inhabits estuary and coastal waters from Massachusetts to Texas, and derives its name from the prominent dark spot behind each gill.

The Atlantic croaker is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae and is closely related to the black drum, the silver perch, the spot croaker, the red drum, the spotted seatrout, and the weakfish.

The Atlantic Spanish mackerel is a migratory species of mackerels that swims to the Northern Gulf of Mexico in spring, returns to south Florida in the Eastern Gulf, and to Mexico in the Western Gulf in the fall.

Cynoscion nebulosus, the spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, is a common estuarine fish found in the southern United States along coasts of Gulf of Mexico and the coastal Atlantic Ocean from Maryland to Florida.